Naia spent several hundred thousand to buy a few samples of various metals and gems. She tested them out as soon as she got to her hotel.

First, she tried the metals. She had already opted out of the basic metals like copper, aluminum, nickel, iron, and steel, which she had in her space but were ’ignored’ by it.

There were also some metals left behind by the absorbed gold, likely part of the alloy.

For metals, she surmised that the space only liked the chemically inert types. These were metals that had been unchanged for thousands of years. Case in point, Gold was super stable.

She bought a few nuggets of gold and watched them get absorbed. Such a small amount didn’t have obvious changes, but she could feel that it contributed to the energy reserves.

The space itself was her ability now, but the extra growth and other functions like time static needed energy to sustain them.

Other ’precious-to-the-space’ metals were platinum, iridium, and palladium, mostly bought from jewelry stores and bullion dealers.

Except for iridium, it was difficult to find the rest. Fortunately, there were various scientific stores here, and there she could buy from.

The next resource she tested was the jade and jaidette. She reckoned it was because of its crystalline lattice structure that held vibration and was stable.

And then there were gems, which could also be bought from the stores. The fake ones obviously didn’t do anything, but the real ones were even more effective than the metals accessible to her.

Things like diamond, emerald, and so on added energy to the space as well. If she got enough, she should be able to expand the functions further.

Naia knew her space to the millimeter. Since the little trial samples she bought were small, the effects were as well, but as the space’s owner, she could tell which was most effective.

To summarize, the space preferred substances with especially long, uninterrupted existence. One theory was that they had absorbed a lot of the world’s energy and managed to keep it.

Common metals bled energy too quickly, while specific precious metals hoarded it. This was why iron and copper, as well as a few other metals, did not have any effect on her space.

Fortunately, she could control whether the space would absorb things now, otherwise, some important items that had precious metals as components would’ve been rendered useless.

As for other things, most did not have an effect. This included most antiques.

It seemed like the space didn’t care about the meaning of an artwork or the so-called ’spirit’ of an object. All those novels were liars.

She continued to walk along the commercial areas, and then also the more hidden areas, to see some shops that might interest her. Non-targeted shopping was also quite enjoyable. No wonder people liked to window shop.

The shops abutting main roads were naturally high-traffic ones, like expensive clothing, restaurants, and so on. It was why she decided to add the deeper alleys in her itinerary. Some unexpected or niche shops could be found in these places.

Unexpectedly, she heard a commotion in the next street. Naia, who had recently become fond of watching drama, hurriedly went over with snacks on hand.

"KYAAAA!"

"LET GO! LET GO!!"

When she arrived, she saw two women in a catfight!

It was apparently for a handsome middle-aged man who owned the herb shop.

"Wow..."

In the apocalypse, you just don’t see drama like this. People were just struggling to survive, and any emotional entanglements were shallow. People could die the next day, after all.

With popcorn from her space in hand, Naia happily went to the edge of the crowd.

It was just that an unexpected move in the fight caused the crowd in front to get pushed back. The collateral damage included an old lady, whose dentures ended up in front of Naia’s feet.

"..."

Naia leaned down to take the denture with her bare hands and also helped the old lady up. She took out a water bottle from her bag (space) and washed the dirt off the denture (and washed her hand by the way) before handing it over to her.

"Thank you..." the old lady said. She was around sixty years old, but looked ten years older.

Naia knew her age because she could just...tell. It had always been part of her ability, even before the apocalypse. It was like she could see people’s vitality and bone age, in a sense.

Her ability truly was unique. After reincarnation, she had seen more and more facets of it, and she started forming conclusions in her mind.

Somehow, it combined with the gift of space that Kael gave her before they died, creating the living space that she had now.

Anyway, the fight in front of them was soon neutralized when a group of middle-aged men appeared. They took all three people to the station.

Interestingly, the grown middle-aged man saw the old woman and called her mum.

It seemed like the man in question was the old lady’s good-for-nothing son who only knew how to play but didn’t learn the trade properly.

The old woman named Maria was the actual owner of the herb shop. She took her son, who had been fired several times, to work for her. Instead of helping, he ended up causing drama and blocking the flow of customers instead.

Naia was curious and followed the old woman to the herb shop. It wasn’t small, about the size of a studio unit. It had several shelves covered with glass, and there was also an area in front where people could just scoop the herbs they needed and buy from them.

There were also seeds.

Her eyes brightened.

She had bought a few things before, but not too much. Certain herbal seeds were also one of the blind spots in her inventory. The ones in town simply didn’t have everything.

She made a mental note of her wallet, physical and digital one, and then looked at the old lady. "How much would your inventory cost?"